Load transfer system



7, 1960 s. H. SEIDMAN 2,936,873

LOAD TRANSFER SYSTEM Filed June 21, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FI2A.

y 17, 6 s. H. SEIDMAN 2,936,873

LOAD TRANSFER SYSTEM Filed June 21, 1956 2' Sheets-Sheet 2 44 45 5/ 5544 26 1/ q. 4 3 f l 1 50? .INVENTOR.

United States Patent LOAD TRANSFER SYSTEM Sol H. Seidman, Forest Hills,NY.

Application June 21, 1956, Serial No. 592,896

7 Claims. (Cl. 198-76) This invention relates to load transfer devicesand more particularly to moving roadways.

An object of this invention is to provide a continuously moving loadtransfer device of any desired length and A further object is to providewear resisting, load distributing floor sections, in conjunction withthe belt drives whereby the sections are moved forward as a continuousroadway.

Still another object is to provide for varying the speed of loadmovement between a continuously moving roadway and way stations.

Another object is to provide a continuous roadway adapted to move atconsiderable speed between stations with means for accelerating ordecelerating the speed of load movement between the way stations and theroadway.

These -and other objects and features will be evident from thedescription, and drawings forming a part thereof, of a preferredembodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the roadway with parts removed toshow the novel belt drive construction; a Fig. 2 is a cross-sectionalelevation of the above roadway taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 2A is a cross sectional elevation taken on line 2A+-2A in Fig. 1,and shows belts extending from the same drive shaft as in Fig. 2, butlooped and extending in reverse direction from the belts in Fig. 2;

I Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of means for effecting variationin the speed of load transfer between stationary platform and the movingroadway;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion of a preferred embodiment of theinvention showing a means for terminating the roadway; and

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, three substantially identical load transferunits A, B and C are shown by their lengths AA, BB and CC. Each of theseunits has one idler roller 11 at the center of the unit, a loop roller13 at each extremity of the unit and a plurality of rider rollers 12intermediate rollers 11 and 13. All of these rollers are journaled inbearings 14 mounted on supporting members 15. A plurality of endlessbelts 16, preferably of uniform size are disposed substantially parallelto one another over rollers 11, 12 and 13. As shown in Fig. 2, each ofthese endless belts 16 passes over a power driven or driving roller17the power drive being conventional and not shown-then over idlerroller 11, then includes parallel rollers 29 haying belts 3 0 thereonwith over rider rollers 12 to loop around loop roller 13 at the end andreturn, supported by support rollers 20, back to driving roller 17. Itwill be noted that from each driving roller 17 adjacent endless belts 16extend alternately forward and backward along the path of the roadwayover the rollers as just described with the top surface of all beltsmoving in a single direction.

The above described arranged of belts 16 permits interlocking ofadjacent units. As is evident from Fig. l, the belts of unit A whichextend to the right from their idler roller 11 are disposed between thebelts of unit B which extend to the left of their idler roller, whilebetween the belts of unit B which extend to the right, are disposedbelts of unit C which extend to the left of their idler roller 11 inunit C. Such interlocking permits the user to include any desirablelength or width of roadway by adding or subtracting units or increasingor decreas-v ing the number of parallel belts respectively. Furthermore, the distance G between loop rollers 13 of units A and C isnegligibly small. Should any unit, such as B, have a major breakdown ofits power drive, belts 16 of units A and C would continue moving a loadover gap G and thereby avoid interruption of the operation of loadtransfer.

Thus the present conveyor apparatus is effected by a novel combinationof standard units made from elements adapted to mass production.Further, the apparatus may be varied to any desired length and width andwill continue to function despite local breakdowns which may occur as aconsequence of defects of material or workmanship or of normal wear.

While the belt system described can transfer certain types of loadeffectively and continuously, another feature of this invention is theprovision of a moving roadway having a substantially continuous surfaceand adapted to carry and resist the wear of diversified, distributed orconcentrated loads. To that end, the roadway is formed by a plurality offloor members 18 which may vary in design from a grillage to simpleplate sections, as shown, with or without special abrasive or resilientsurfacing materials.

The floor members 18 are adapted to rest on and extend across the fullwidth of the belts 16 and, while of moderately short lengths along thebelts 16, they are preferably adapted to distribute load over a numberof rollers 11, 12 and 13. Floor members 18 preferably have divergentedges so that the leading edge of one member 18 laps over the trailingedge of the adjacent member 18. It is also preferred that at the cornersof the lapped members 18, there is provided suitable pivotal connections19. The pivotal connections and lapped portions permit free relativemovement of the members 18 at all times for adjustment and negotiationsof moderate rates of curvature of the system without gaps betweenmembers 18. The above construction also permits the preferred shortsections to be of substantial width and results in a chain of lappedsections to form a substantially'uniform roadwayactivated by a movingbelt system.

Fig. 4 shows a planview of roadways 24, 24 formed by the members 18which move in substantially the same plane but in opposite directions onthe two roadways. The roadways .24, 24 areconnected at each end by anannular shaped unit 26. In unit 26, which for the purpose ofthe'preferred embodiment illustrated, is not in-I tended fortransporting payload, movement of members 18 is shown in a sharp curveof substantially degrees to effect the reversal of direction of theroadway. The peripheral limits of the annular unit 26 are formed byinner and outer supporting and guiding structures 27 and 28respectively. Operatively secured between these structures are aplurality of belt drives, each ofxwhich' 3 conventional power drives(not shown) adapted to activate the belts 30 at a speed pro-determinedand greater than that of belts 16. Thus, while the pivotally connectedends of members 18 would travel at the same speed as belts 16, theoutward ends would be moved at a sufiiciently greater speed to cause theouter ends of members 18 to reach the straight roadway 24 at the end ofthe 180 degree swing at substantially the same time as the inner endsand thereby maintain the continuous lapped relationship throughout thelengths of roadways 24.

Because of the inadvisability'of having angular movement of members 18on the straight moving belts 30, it is preferred to interpose betweenmembers 18 and belts 30 bearings 21 adapted to be retained in rotatingposition. within a perforated plate 22 so that the straight movement ofthe belts3ti is transferred to the members 18 through these bearings 21in a manner that permits angular movement of members 18. Of course,belts 30 would in that case be moved in direction opposite to belts 16whereby rollers 21 would effect continuity of movement of the floorsections 18. The elimination of relative slippage between members 18 andbelts 30 insures low cost operation with minimum maintenance.

in order to maintain continuous surfaces for the entire roadways 24, 24,the movement of the floor sections 18 and, of course, of the belt drivesA, B, C, etc. must be at the same speed for the entire length of theroadways 24, even though the construction is adaptable to a wide rangeof desired speeds. This has the advantages of minimum operating andmaintenance cost due to constancy of speed and minimum initial cost inview of the mass production made possible by the uniformity of the motordrives for the system as well as of the other elements comprising thesystem. For wider latitude of load transfer, however, an importantfeature of the invention is variation of speed of load movement as andwhere desired, especially without loss of the advantages cited above ofconstant speed of the elements of the system. The preferred embodimentachieves the important feature of variations of payload speed inpredetermined ratios to the roadway speed while maintaining constantspeed of every moving element in the system and while furthermaintaining continuity of the roadway surface.

Figs. 4 and illustrate a preferred embodiment particularly applicable topassenger load. Movement of the roadways 24, 24 is at a speedconsiderably greater than normal pedestrian speed. Therefore, loadingfrom a stationary platform requires means for accelerating the passengerload to substantially the speed of the roadway, and, at exits, means forcorrespondingly decelerating the passengers.

The loading and unloading may be at the ends but also at any desiredstations along the roadway. This is achieved by ramps 34 foracceleration and ramps 43 for deceleration from platform 33 and toplatform 44 respectively. While the width of roadway 24 is substantiallythe full distance between partitions 31, 31, the width of the ramps isshown considerably narrower than roadway 24 and partitions 32 arepreferably hung from beams spanning partitions 31 to separate the rampsfrom the balance of the roadway and to aid in retaining the ramps inlaterally fixed disposition. Thereby a transfer lane is. providedlengthwise of the conveying roadway 24 in a portion of its width. Thebalance of the width of the conveying roadway then becomes a constantspeed travel lane for conveying load continuously toward its desireddestination and by-passing the intermediate ramps in the transfer laneof the roadway.

Referring to Fig. 3, a schematic representation is shown by a ramp 34comprising a plurality of belts 35, 36, 37, etc. of approximate rampwidth adapted to move on rollers 38 which are journaled in fixedstructural supports 39, 39. Rollers 45, 46, 47, etc. are driving rollersion-belts 35, 36, 37, etc..respectively. The rollers 45, 46,

47 are activated by wheels 55, 56, 57 respectively to which wheels therollers are concentrically secured. The wheels which are preferablyrubber tired are retained in contacting relation to the floor sections18 by the weight of the above rollers journaled in structural members39,

, 39. Rollers 38 are of uniform diameter where practicable, but rollers41 at the ends of the belts 35, 36, 37 are preferably of smallestpractical diameter and located to create a slight dip in the belts tocreate an obtuse angle between the ends of these belt units. This notonly permits reduction in the amount of gap between the belts, butinsures easy transition of load from belt to belt. Cross members 42,which are adapted to retain the longitudinal members 39, 39 in paralleldisposition, are preferably located between end rollers 41 whereby thegap is covered by the flange of the cross member.

Each of belts 35, 36, 37, etc. is driven at a constant speed byvirtue-of the traction between the wheels 55, 56, 57, etc. on theconstant speed roadway 24. However, wheel 55 nearest thestationary-platform 33, is relatively large, so that for a givenperipheral speed corresponding to the speed of. the moving roadway, thewheel revolutions are relatively small. The diameter of the concentricroller 45 is selected to be substantially less than that of the wheel55, with which itturns. The peripheral speed of the roller 45 andconsequently the speed of the belt 35 is thus considerably less thanthat of the floor sections 18.

In order to accelerate the load by any given increment, the belt 36adjoining belt 35 is caused to move at such higher speed as desired byvarying the diameter of either roller 46 or wheel 56 or both. In theembodiment illustrated, the diameter of the wheel 56 is two thirds ofwheel 55 and the diameter of roller 45 is three fourths that of roller46 so thatthe speed of belt 36 would become double that of 35, such as 2ft. per sec. for belt 35 and 4 ft. per sec. for belt 36. In ordertofurther increase the speed of the load by the same increment it may bepreferred to retain the same wheel diameter on the next belt unit, butthe diameter of the roller could then be increased to effect the desiredspeed of the belt.

Of course, the number of belts in a ramp would depend upon therelationship of gradations required and maximum speed of the roadway.Yet each of the belt units forming the ramps operate at its constantspeed to act as a differential to provide an easy transition from oneunit to the next. All belt speeds are directly dependent upon the speedof the roadway which activates each of them. Thus, if, for any reason,the roadway should stop moving or be slowed, all ramp units would alsostop or react correspondingly in their speeds in proper relation to theroadway speed for optimum automatic effectiveness and safety.

Thus a passenger after transfering from a stationary platform 33 ontobelt 35 would thereafter be moved forward or may walk from belt to beltand thus be accelerated at any desirable speed gradation for maximumcomfort and safety onto the roadway 24 whereby they are then moved atmaximum speed consistent with safety and comfort to the desired station.

Deceleration ramps 43' are similar to acceleration ramps 34. Belts 35,36 and 37 and theirdriving elements are arranged so that passengers maystep onto the fastest belt 37 from the roadway 24 and be'moved ontoslower moving belts 36 and 35 from which they would step onto stationaryplatform 44.

For a passenger load it is advisable to provide hand rails, particularlyon the accelerating and decelerating ramps. Since the speed of the handrail should correspond to the speed of the respective ramp belt, thenarrow hand rail belts 40 could be activated by rollers 45,

. 46 and 47 similarly to belts 35, 36 and 37 except that while treadportions of belts 35, 36, 37, etc. travel on rollers 37, the hand railportions of the belts 4.0 would travelv on rollers 49 journaled atproper hand rail level in suitable hearings on guards 51 which supportsame. Thus, the hand rail speeds always correspond to the load transferspeeds.

In the preferred embodiment as transportation, each floor section 18 hassecured thereto at least one seat 58 which is shown in Figs. 4 and 5 atthe pivoted end of floor section 18. It is also preferred mines thedistance between passageways formed by.

spaced groups of seats 52 and thereby the spacing of passengers in thelane of approach to the deceleration ramp =43 for suitable intervals ofarrival at the deceleration ramp. The above requirements are met byproviding the correct number of seats per group, since the grouping isthus adapted to automatically insure establishment of proper distancebetween passengers as they approach the deceleration ramps 43. Thus, asthe distance between the passengers is reduced due to theirdeceleration, the initial distance thus effected between them wouldprevent crowding. Of course, if the passengers walk on the slower movingbelts 36 and 35 and thus unto station 44, their spacing is automaticallyincreased.

In summation, a novel combination of simple mass producible elementsthatform uniform belt drive units has been described. These are adapted tointerlock to form a belt drive system of any desired length which inturn is adapted to activate a continuous roadway'of any desired widthfor the entire distance to be traversed. Described also is a novelcombination of similar simple mass produced elements whereby loadmovement on the roadway may be efiectively varied in speed so as to beaccelerated or decelerated automatically in direct relation to the speedof the movingroadway. Many novel features insuring positiveness ofoperation and automatic functioning have been described and shown in thedrawings. Of course, it is understood that various modifications may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

applied to passenger 1. A device for transferring load between a waystation and a passing load-conveying surface including, in combination,slow moving conveying means disposable intermediate said conveyingsurface in the direction of load movement thereon, a connecting way tosaid way station, retained over said passing conveying surface inalignment with said slow moving conveying means, a load acceleratingtransfer means extending from said slow conveying means forward to saidconveying surface and a load speed retarding transfer means extendingfrom said conveying surface to the rear end of said slow conveyingmeans. A

2. A device according to claim 1 having means responsive to movement ofsaid load conveying surface for interlocking activation of said slowmoving conveying means, of said load accelerating transfer means and ofsaid load speed retarding transfer means with movement of said loadconveying surface.

3. A device for transferring load between way stations and a passingvfast moving surface, including a connecting way'adapted to extend fromsaid way station intermediate and over said'mo'ving surface, slowconveying means aligned in the direction of said surface movementforward and rearward of said connecting way for load transfertherebetween, a plurality of conveying elements disposed in tandembetween either end of said slow conveying means and said moving surfaceand drives activating said conveying elements each at a different speedarranged progressively between the speed of said slow conveying meansand the speed of said passing surface.

4. A load transfer system including a conveyor providing a continuousconveying surface having a travel lane and a transfer lane extendinglengthwise of said conveying surface, said travel lane beingcontinuously unobstructed for carrying passengers or other objectscontinuously at constant speed, and a plurality-of conveying devicesdisposed 'over said transfer lane, the terminal portions of saidconveying devices retained intermediate the length of said transfer laneand operatively proximate over said conveying surface for load transfertherebetween, each of said conveying deviceshaving conveying elementsactuated at progressive speed ,differential for accelerating orretarding load thereon in the direction of load movement in saidtransfer lane.

5. A load transfer system according to claim 4, having entrance and exitways extending over said transfer lane of said conveying surface. inoperative alignment with said conveying devices for transfer of loadunits therebetween in the direction of load movement on said conveyingdevices.

6. A load transfer system according to claim 4, hav-.

ing rotatable means riding on said conveying surface for supporting saidconveying devices operatively proximate thereto and controllingactuation of said conveying devices correlated to movement of saidconveyor.

7. A load transfer system according to claim 4, having means forminimizing crowding of load units during variation of speed forretardation, comprising guide means disposed along said transfer lane ofsaid conveyor and a spacing between said guide means correlated to thespeed of said-conveyor for effecting arrivals of load units onto saidretarding device at suitably timed intervals.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS421,186 Munden Feb. 11, 1890 1,199,818 Peck Oct. 3, 1916 1,412,969 SachsApr. 18, 1922 1,489,926 Burtchaell Apr. 8, 1924 1,841,714 Cone Jan. 19,1932 1,939,315 Paulson Dec. 12, 1933 2,016,700 Anderson Oct. 8, 19352,502,906 Waters Apr. 4, 1950 2,696,900 Finstead Dec. 14, 1954 2,804,191King Aug. 27, 1957 2,805,752 Wells Sept. 10, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS733,952 Great Britain July 20, 1955 942,680 Germany May 3, 1956

